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She locks herself in the bathroo on Are they giving her a hard tis Mike told et in trouble for me I’ll leave before I let that happen

When she finally e up and down like I’ around because I don’t like to see her upset

Priscilla is pacing the room back and forth like I’ve never seen her do She’s controlled and steady She’s supposed to have it together and it kills me to see her unsure I want to make it better

"Dios! That makes me so mad!" she says, still with the back and forth

"You wanna talk about it?" Those words feel weird co out of , but I don’t want her to be like me I don’t want all that shit trapped inside her until she wants to explode

As though h her head, she looks at er and browner than I’ve ever seen theer, maybe? Confusion? And then pain

That’s when it happens Like a trick of the eye, so down her face I don’t think, don’t even pause before I push to my feet, walk to her, and pull her in my aro; big, sobbing cries that vibrate through h ht now is ht? When someone is important to you, you take care of them You try to take their pain away, pull it into yourself if you can, because it’s easier to fight her de her

I would take theht now so I shush her and rub her back and letto make her feel better Cut myself open and let her see all the secrets inside me Whatever it takes Whatever she needs

But she keeps crying and I wonder if I’s When her legs weaken and she goes slack against ainst me as I back us up to the bed

I lay doith her and pull her toLike she’s mine e both know she isn’t and never will be

My lips actually fucking tingle, wanting to touch her forehead, her hairline, down until I find her lips Which totally isn’t what she needs right now, andit

"Why won’t I ever be good enough for them?" she asks into my shirt

I try to pull away so I can look at her, but she doesn’t let me Her hand is knotted in the back of ht

"There’s no one you’re not good enough for, Priscilla"

This just makes her cry harder and I wonder how I screwed that up

"Shit I’, ya know? They’d do anything for you You’re good at everything There’s no way you’re not good enough for them Maybe it was h to look at me "I don’t care what they think about you And they , but that’s not the sa for s Do you know the only reason I got to coreed to one year of what I want to do, and then I have to go pre-law?" So back into her voice, but it’s all wrapped up in the pain

"You don’t want to be a lawyer" She doesn’t I used to think she did because of her dad and because she’s so good at arguing, but it’s not her

"That doesn’tis always for show and not because they give a shit My graduation party? That wasn’t for ood I was there for twenty minutes and no one noticed when I left All I wanted was to be with you guys and they tried to take that away fro in the air Because I’h

"Me It’s okay You can say it" I’ her hair and her back because now that I’ve started, I’m not sure I can stop "I’ive a shit about me, how can I expect yours to?" I iret telling her Solad I said it, but this is about her and I don’t want to bring ether I feel the heat froainst h it bites into my skin of my back, I want to feel it more

"I told you, I don’t care what they think about you They don’t know you"

I want to tell her I care Not for ainst her I don’t want to hold her back, but I can feel her and smell her and it’s all too uides me, steersmy mouth to hers

Chapter Eleven

I coether I feel like an idiot I’ve kissed a ton of girls and never done that, and I immediately want to pull away, but she doesn’t let h ainst

I search hts I don’t want anything with ue into her mouth I taste mint like she brushed her teeth and salt from her tears and still I think, s at my hair and she makes this tiny little noise in her throat I don’t hear, but feel Feel her lying next tome as we lay on our sides in the bed

I kiss her deeper, letting et intimate with every part of herThis Which is stupid because, like I said, I’ve kissed girls, lots of girls, but none of them came close to what this feels like

Instinct takes over and I roll us, Priscilla on her back and I’m on top of her She flinches a little when I settle in and I’ on under the belt

I pull back, even though it’s the last thing I want, but then she whispers, "No," and leans up to find ain

This time, it’s me ants to burrow myself inside her I kiss her lips, behind her ears, her throat I lick her skin and touch her hair and she’s doing it all to me too